In his article in the Washington Times about the Charlie Sheen Police Escort, Matthew Cella quoted MPD Police Chief Cathy Lanier as having admitted that the Sheen escort broke multiple department rules. No offense Cathy or Matthew, but those of us in the Executive Protection field realized that, the minute we saw crazy Charlie taking a cell phone picture of the speed odometer, documenting for the world to see that the D.C. Police cruiser in front was pushing 80 miles an hour, 30 miles outside of their jurisdiction.

I do have to say, that Chief Lanier sounded very honest and open during the WTOP radio interview this afternooon when talking about how one of her “middle managers” (“probably a Lieutenant”, she said) wrongfully authorized the problematic escort of a Hollywood celebrity. I was about ready to give her a “thumbs up” until she began justifying why her officers would have broken the rules.

Chief Lanier went on to tell the interviewer that it wasn’t really that surprising that her officers went outside of their jurisdiction, sped and drove with their emergency lights flashing. “Afterall”, she said, “Police are only human and we can’t expect them not to be awe struck when dealing with celebrities”. What you talkin’ about Cathy?

Yes, Police Officers are human, but no – they are certainly not like the average citizen. They go through a different training, have broad sweeping powers that regular people do not share and have the ability to take another’s liberty and even life, if necessary. They should damn well be held to a higher standard and we should expect far more from them than we would do from a 13 year old girl waiting for a “Bieber appearance” outside of a concert hall.

I would wager that if you took a survey of all Executive Protection Agents (definitely all E.P. Agency owners), they would tell you that when they are hired to work in close proximity of a celebrity, they are not “awe struck” by that person. If I ever discovered that one of my bodyguards had broken the law or embarrased my company or themselves on an E.P. detail, that would be the last time they would work for me. The ironic thing is that when it comes to private sector Executive Protection, most Agents are more highly trained and experienced than local Police Officers.

Apparently, the Metropolitan Police Department rules allows officers to perform escort duty for The President, Vice Prez, visiting Heads of State and the Mayor. I sure am glad that I am not an MPD “middle manager” trying to figure out which category that “Tiger Blood” Charlie fits into.